Iron Oxide and Silicon Nanoparticles Modulate Mineral Nutrient Homeostasis and Metabolism in Cadmium-Stressed Phaseolus vulgaris

Lyubka Koleva; Aisha Umar; Nasim Ahmad Yasin; Anis Ali Shah; Manzer H Siddiqui; Saud Alamri; Luqman Riaz; Ali Raza; Talha Javed; Zunera Shabbir

doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.806781

Iron Oxide and Silicon Nanoparticles Modulate Mineral Nutrient Homeostasis and Metabolism in Cadmium-Stressed Phaseolus vulgaris

Front Plant Sci. 2022 Mar 21:13:806781. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.806781. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lyubka Koleva¹, Aisha Umar², Nasim Ahmad Yasin³, Anis Ali Shah⁴, Manzer H Siddiqui⁵, Saud Alamri⁵, Luqman Riaz⁶, Ali Raza⁷, Talha Javed^{7

8}, Zunera Shabbir⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
² Institute of Botany, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
³ Senior Superintendent Garden, RO-II Office, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Botany, Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Narowal, Punjab, Pakistan.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Genetics, Breeding and Multiple Utilization of Crops, Centre of Legume Crop Genetics and Systems Biology/College of Agriculture, Oil Crop Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU), Fuzhou, China.
⁸ College of Agriculture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
⁹ Agronomy, Horticulture, and Plant Science Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, United States.

Abstract

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) has been proved as an efficient and promising technique for mitigating a wide range of stressors in plants. The present study elucidates the synergistic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in the attenuation of Cd toxicity in Phaseolus vulgaris. Seeds of P. vulgaris were treated with IONPs (10 mg/L) and SiNPs (20 mg/L). Seedlings of uniform size were transplanted to pots for 40 days. The results demonstrated that nanoparticles (NPs) enhanced growth, net photosynthetic rate, and gas exchange attributes in P. vulgaris plants grown in Cd-contaminated soil. Synergistic application of IONPs and SiNPs raised not only K⁺ content, but also biosynthesis of polyamines (PAs), which alleviated Cd stress in P. vulgaris seedlings. Additionally, NPs decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) content and electrolyte leakage (EL) in P. vulgaris plants exposed to Cd stress. These findings suggest that stress alleviation was mainly attributed to the enhanced accumulation of K⁺ content, improved antioxidant defense system, and higher spermidine (Spd) and putrescine (Put) levels. It is suggested that various forms of NPs can be applied synergistically to minimize heavy metal stress, thus increasing crop production under stressed conditions.

Keywords: antioxidant; cadmium; growth; polyamines; potassium; stress.